


stand up child and turn towards the lightning and the thunder

by VolxdoSioda



Series: Crowe Altius Week 2019 (Complete) [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, No Kingsglaive Traitors verse, onesided Luna/Noctis, pre-ship Crowe/Luna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-25 13:44:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18575674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolxdoSioda/pseuds/VolxdoSioda
Summary: "He's incredible," Lunafreya says softly, and Crowe takes another drink of her beer.Take a sip for every compliment Noctis earns that is deserved. Take a swig for every compliment he'll ignore because he doesn't think he's good enough. Drink the whole damned bottle every time he promises to do better, despite the fact the public adores him.Crowe and Luna have a chat in the aftermath of Noctis' recovery. This chat may or may not involve copious amounts of beer on Crowe's end.





	stand up child and turn towards the lightning and the thunder

"So, you and Noctis are like. Childhood friends or something?"

It's late. The nurses have shooed everyone out for the evening, citing rest and recovery for the Prince. Crowe would have snickered at the hurt expression on Scientia's face as he left, except she knows from personal experience how much worry can eat at a person when they love deeply. Ignis Scientia is no mere valet for the Prince lying in the infirmary right now, and he doesn't worry as a mere valet does.

Luna doesn't either. But she's agreed to come back to the bar - now empty, save the two of them - and have a drink, try to relax after the day is done. She's still in the worn jeans and the shirt, although she's put a jacket over the top to keep herself warm, and switched her hair being down to being up in a single braid. It still looks good on her.

She nods now, fingers dancing at the edge of the bottle. She's taken a single sip so far, while Crowe's nearly finished her first. Alcohol might not be her thing, or maybe she's just got a low tolerance. It's why Crowe watered hers down so much before handing it over - not that she knows. "Yes. My mother was tasked with healing him after his run-in with the Marilith. She managed to erase a good part of the Scourge within his wound before the Emperor attacked."

She says it calmly. It's been years, so maybe unlike her ass of a brother, she's accepted her mother's death at last, come to terms with it. Or maybe she's just better at hiding the pain than her brother is. From what Crowe heard, Sylva Via Fleuret was a fierce woman who had loved her children and people without regret. Lunafreya is similar, if what people are saying about her is any indication. 

And she loves Noctis too, which. If Crowe thinks on it too long, hurts in more than one way. She takes a swig of her beer to prevent herself thinking. 

"So, given Aldercapt tried to kill our king just now, and everyone knows this whole thing was basically a farce to try to attack us, is the marriage still gonna go on?"

Luna worries her lower lip. Crowe tries not to stare, and forces herself to drink. At the rate she's going, she's liable to be very drunk by the time morning comes, and very regretful tomorrow when she goes to give her report to Drautos. 

"I can't truly say," Luna says at last. "I... would like for it to be so, even if Noctis only sees me as a friend."

 _Ouch._ Yep, that's the heartbreak coming into play. Noctis might only like Luna as a friend, but for Luna, this is practically a dream come true. Noctis is a good friend, a good ally, and he would be a faithful, doting husband, without a doubt. And maybe with time he'd come to love Luna as more than just a friend, but going into this, she would be forced to remain a few steps back, unable to do the things she wants to do as she wants to do them, stuck with the reminder that Noctis only sees her platonically.

 _How would that even work, then,_ Crowe wonders. Because he'd have to get it up for the wedding night, and if he's not into Luna, that might pose a problem. Unless they did like, roleplay or so--aha, this is not her problem. She needs to stop thinking about it.

She finishes her beer, tosses the bottle in the trash, and grabs another. Pops the top and swigs.

 _New rule,_ she tells herself.  _A sip for every time you think she looks pretty. A swig every time you think about her sex life. The whole damned bottle for every time you start worrying about her and Noctis._

What feels like a handful of seconds later, she's finishing her second bottle, reaching for her third.

"He's incredible," Lunafreya says softly, and Crowe takes another drink of her beer.  _Take a sip for every compliment Noctis earns that is deserved. Take a swig for every compliment he'll ignore because he doesn't think he's good enough. Drink the whole damned bottle every time he promises to do better, despite the fact the public adores him._

Fuck, she is well on her way to getting utterly  _destroyed._ These kids and their goddamned fairytale heartbreaks. They're too good to be dealing with shit like this. Noctis is just trying to keep his head above water, and after meeting this girl, Crowe's pretty sure Lunafreya's in the same boat. It makes Crowe feel older than she actually is. 

She should hate them, she thinks. And maybe in another life, she would. That the biggest problem they have to deal with in their lives is this - an alliance between Tenebrae and Lucis, a marriage that's one-sided on the romance front, and the broken trust of Gralea on live TV. But she doesn't here; if anything, she only feels pity for them. And truth be told, they're not as different from the children of Galahd as they could be. They're royalty, but practically only in name - Noctis practically craves a life where nobody knows him, and Luna is a public figure who regularly travels the world to heal people.

"He is," she hears herself say. It slips out without meaning to, a concession that up until now has never made it past her thoughts. "He's a good kid."

"He'll be a magnificent king."

Crowe snorts, sips her beer. "Try telling  _him_ that."

Luna's smile says she's well-aware of Noctis' internal doubts, the crippling anxiety he fights against, the way he'll push himself to the brink for his people and country. "They love him, in Tenebrae."

"Do they even know who he is?"

Luna's smile grows. "Oh yes. They get livestreams of Lucis news, and so they hear all that Noctis does. When the wedding was announced, honestly there was so many well-wishes..."

Crowe can picture it. And it hurts again, because that might be a fairytale wedding in a lot of ways, but not the way that matters. She sips at her beer, lets her eyes move to Luna again. 

A strong woman, struggling to keep her head above water. Fierce, ready to fight for her victories and her future. A future that the Gods would see cut short before her time. 

"You know," Crowe hears herself say, and her filter must finally have hit its limits, because she can't bring herself to stop it. "You don't have to marry him. Just 'cause you're childhood friends 'n all that shit. Marry someone that makes you happy. That makes you whole."

She expects Luna to argue. But Luna doesn't argue. She doesn't really do anything. Just shrugs, and sits, quiet and tired in her own way, and reaches for her probably warm beer, and drinks a little sip. Her nose scrunches, and that's  _cute_ , and Crowe laughs at it.

"What?" Luna asks, looking up, hand halfway up to wipe her mouth.

"You don't like beer?"

"It's...not my style, no."

Crowe stands, and takes her bottle, tossing it in the trash, regardless of the contents sloshing out into the bottom of the can.  She goes to the back, hopping over the bar to get it, and steals one of the root beers that the owner keeps for those who have had one too many, or for some, who don't like the beer and only come for the company.

"Here.  A sweet for a sweetie. Better?"

Luna's cheeks flush pink, but she nods and takes the bottle from Crowe's hands, fingertips brushing over scarred knuckles, an electric sensation that goes right through Crowe, and stirs up heat that has no business being there. 

 _Easy girl,_ Crowe chides herself, settling back in the chair.  _She's not yours to play with._

She's certainly started  _something_ though, if the little glances Luna keeps giving her beneath lashes is any indication. Crowe finishes off her fourth beer, chucking the bottle in the trash alongside the others, before standing, cracking her back. 

"Alright, enough misery business. C'mon Princess, time to head home."

"It's Luna." She stands, poised, elegant as ever, but her chin is tipped just enough to say  _defiant._ "You can call me Luna."

Crowe cocks an eyebrow at her. "Yeah? Then it's just Crowe, Luna."

Luna's lips turn in a smile that sends the heat skittering again, but Crowe turns before it can start burying claws in her proper-like. "Right, time to make tracks."

"You're drunk."

"And you're cute. But I ain't saying anything."

Another rush of pink. But there's something else there too, something Crowe's too tired to identify, so she leaves it. 

Besides, knowing her luck it'll come back to bite her sooner rather than later anyhow.

She gets Lunafreya back to the Citadel, to the bronzed door of the guest quarters, and gives her a brief salute. "Sleep well."

"You as well," Luna calls softly behind her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bright 'n early."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

True to her word, she's there at Luna's door again the next morning, bright and early, regretting every sip of alcohol she took. She knocks once, yawning as she does, the uniform of the Glaive feeling scratchy against her skin. It always does, when she knocks back one too many. 

The door opens, and Crowe opens her mouth to say something, only to have her words dry up mid-thought and fly away like dust on the wind at the sight before her. 

Lunafreya is not dressed. There's cloth wrapped around her, hiding all of her soft parts from view, but it's sheer silken cloth that leaves very little to the imagination. Her hair is down, her eyes are still soft from sleep, and Six help her Crowe has never wanted to drop to her knees more for a woman in her  _life._

"Crowe?"

"Yeah," she says, and it comes out as a husky rasp. She hastily clears her throat, pulls her eyes up to Luna's head, and tries again. "S'me Princess. C'mon, we got an audience to get to. You uh. Might want to change."

Luna frowns, looks down at herself. Crowe sees the instant awareness sinks into her brain; her face rushes scarlet, and she slams the door shut. 

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," Crowe calls back, willing the heat between her legs to stop aching.  _Stop it, stop it, she's not yours, stop that._ "Take your time, we got an hour yet."

It doesn't take her that long to get dressed, and when the door opens again she's in much more decent attire. Part of Crowe regrets that - she would have  _loved_ to have seen more - but the rest of her is thinking with the correct brain, and reminds her this lady she's panting over is  _already taken._

"Oh. Um. One  more thing. Sorry!" Luna darts back inside, leaving the door open. Crowe sees her poke around in her tiny kitchenette, and return with a bottle of something. She offers it out to Crowe, who takes it.

"A Hi-Potion?"

Luna nods, fixing the straps of her dress. "Yes. Home-made. I hope you don't mind, but last night. You seem a little..."

"Over-zealous?"

"Let's go with that, yes," Luna agrees, and Crowe laughs, saluting her as she pops the top and gulps it down. It tastes sweeter than she expects, almost like drinking tea in the summer, and the headache she's been experiencing since that morning finally leaves. Her stomach stops crawling, and she finally feels halfway human again. 

"My thanks, Princess."

"I told you, it's just Luna."

"When it's just you and me? Yeah. But out here? Gotta be on point. Sorry Princess."

Luna doesn't pout, but it looks to be a near thing. Crowe turns her head so she won't think about kissing that look off her, and wondering what she'd taste like at the same time. 

They walk to the audience chamber in silence. It's just talks about the remaining fallout today, in the wake of what happened. Aldercapt's blown his chance for any kind of alliance, so now there's talks about strengthening the Wall, or possibly pulling it back to converse the King's energy.

There's even talks about handing it over to Noctis, which. Crowe won't say it wouldn't be an ideal situation, given he's younger, stronger. But at the same time, he's injured himself right now, and they don't need their Prince lying in a hospital bed for the next ten years while a ring zaps his strength. 

Plus, the Ring is only meant to be passed once the current King dies. Regis isn't dead, last Crowe checked, so that thought is out. But that doesn't mean people aren't talking about it. 

Still, Crowe doesn't doubt that between Lunafreya, Regis, Cor, Clarus and even Drautos, that suggestion will be put to rest  _with haste._

"Ready?" Crowe asks, setting her hands against the door. 

Lunafreya's back has straightened, her chin lifted, her eyes shining with determination. "Yes," she says, and Crowe has to remind herself a final time that Lunafreya is not hers. 

She opens the doors, and together they walk inside to face the future.


End file.
